Vietnam vets alarmed at prospect of being run off their road

SACRAMENTO — Dave Betti, a Marine combat veteran and president of the Vietnam Veterans of Ventura County, was alarmed earlier this week when he learned that Assemblyman Jeff Gorell had introduced a resolution to name a segment of Highway 1 the Seabee Memorial Highway.

Betti has nothing but the highest regard for the Seabees. In fact, he said Thursday, "They deserve to have a whole freeway named after them."

But as for Highway 1, that's a different story. It's already taken.

The Legislature in 2002 approved a resolution designating the stretch of Highway 1 from the Los Angeles County line to the Santa Barbara County line as the Ventura County Vietnam Veterans Highway.

"We'll fight him tooth and nail," Betti said of Gorell's proposal. "Don't be turning around and trying to change it."

After issuing a news release touting his resolution on Wednesday, Gorell on Thursday was backtracking and apologizing.

He wasn't aware of the existing designation, and said no one either on his staff or in the Legislative Counsel's Office discovered the honorary naming rights already had been claimed.

"It was an unfortunate oversight, a breakdown in research," said Gorell, R-Camarillo. "I take full responsibility for this."

Gorell, an officer in the Navy reserve who spent most of last year on active duty in Afghanistan, said he holds Vietnam veterans in high esteem.

"We don't want to tread on them," he said. "I have no intention of trumping all the work they've done. If we can't come up with a consensus, we'll pull the bill."

Gorell said he introduced the resolution at the behest of supporters of the Seabee Museum in Port Hueneme who were seeking a way to call attention to both the museum and the historic military contributions of the Navy's Construction Battalion (CB, from which the name "Seabee" is derived).

Among those supporters is Bob Quinn, of Oxnard, a retired veteran who served 34 years in the Navy, including four assignments at the Port Hueneme Seabee base. Quinn is a member of the Seabee Veterans of America and a Vietnam veteran — he was injured when a helicopter carrying him was shot down.

Quinn is hoping a mutual agreement can be worked out in which the local Vietnam veterans' group will consent to allowing a segment of Highway 1 through Oxnard be named to honor Seabees.

Richard Camacho, of Camarillo, is a member of the county Vietnam veterans group who worked for two years on getting the designation for Highway 1 and then spearheaded efforts to raise $20,000 to put up four signs. He said fellow members "are worried they're going to take down our signs and put theirs up. We're not going to let that happen."

Camacho said he expects to bring up the issue at the group's monthly meeting on Saturday but believes the veterans' group "will be able to work something out" to have the portion of Highway 1 through Oxnard named to honor the Seabees.

"Maybe they can have that one segment," he said.

Quinn is a docent at the Seabee Museum and believes an honorary highway designation would help raise awareness about an important cultural and historical institution that too few people in Ventura County even know exists.

"We do a terrible job of telling an amazing story," he said.

Of course, the same desire to heighten public recognition was the motivation behind the 2002 resolution authored by then-Assemblyman Tony Strickland.

"The residents of Ventura County wish to express their gratitude and appreciation for the sacrifices these Vietnam veterans have made for their country," the resolution states.

That same resolution designated the segment of Highway 126 between Santa Paula and Highway 101 in Ventura as the Korean War Veterans Memorial Highway.

Under the rules regarding honorary highway names, private groups must pay for signage that publicly notes the designation.

The four signs marking the Ventura County Vietnam Veterans Memorial Highway are located at various spots: one along the northbound lanes just north of the Los Angeles County line; one on Oxnard Boulevard close to the American Legion Hall in the Wagon Wheel area; and one in each direction along the Rincon.

Former Assemblyman Pedro Nava, who represented portions of Oxnard for six years, said he learned while in office that an honorary highway designation "takes on a great deal of significance for those who seek it."

When Caltrans temporarily took down the sign on Oxnard Boulevard during construction and stored it, Nava said, his office was besieged with complaints from Vietnam veterans. After Nava complained to the California Department of Transportation, the sign was put back up the next day.